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Lot Essay
Peintre et essayiste Enrico Baj est né en 1924 à Milan, où il étudie l’art à la Accademia di Brera avant d’obtenir un diplôme en droit. Il fonde en 1950, avec Sergio Dangelo, le Movimento Nucleare, pendant italien du groupe CoBrA, s’en différenciant toutefois par un engagement politique affiché et revendiqué. Enrico Baj participe activement aux expositions surréalistes collectives. Il expose ainsi à Paris en 1959, puis New York l’année suivante et à Paris en 1962 et en 1965 lors de l’ultime exposition du groupe surréaliste du vivant d’André Breton qui lui consacrera un chapitre dans la réédition de son essai Le Surréalisme et la Peinture en 1965. Anarchiste libertaire, sa production artistique se veut sociale, et de collage en peinture ses œuvres évoquent les conflits armés. Il fait ainsi scandale en 1970 avec sa fresque Funérailles de l’anarchiste Pinelli qui se voit interdite d’exposition. Il collabore avec Umberto Eco, Marcel Duchamp et Yves Klein avant de s’éteindre en 2003.
Painter and essayist Enrico Baj was born in Milan in 1924. There, he studied art at the Accademia di Brera and obtained a law degree. In 1950, he and Sergio Dangelo founded Movimento Nucleare; though it was an Italian offshoot of the CoBrA group, it set itself apart through its clearly stated political objectives. Enrico Baj was an active participant in the Surrealist exhibitions. He showed his work in Paris in 1959, in New York in 1960, then twice more in Paris in 1962 and 1965. The 1965 show was the last of the Surrealist exhibitions before the death of André Breton. That year, Breton dedicated a chapter to Baj in the 1965 edition of Surrealism and Painting. Baj was a libertarian anarchist whose art was intended as a social critique. Indeed, armed conflict is an ever-present theme in his collages and paintings. In fact, his 1970 fresco Funeral of the Anarchist Pinelli caused an uproar and was banned from exhibition. He worked with Umberto Eco, Marcel Duchamp and Yves Klein before his death in 2003.
Painter and essayist Enrico Baj was born in Milan in 1924. There, he studied art at the Accademia di Brera and obtained a law degree. In 1950, he and Sergio Dangelo founded Movimento Nucleare; though it was an Italian offshoot of the CoBrA group, it set itself apart through its clearly stated political objectives. Enrico Baj was an active participant in the Surrealist exhibitions. He showed his work in Paris in 1959, in New York in 1960, then twice more in Paris in 1962 and 1965. The 1965 show was the last of the Surrealist exhibitions before the death of André Breton. That year, Breton dedicated a chapter to Baj in the 1965 edition of Surrealism and Painting. Baj was a libertarian anarchist whose art was intended as a social critique. Indeed, armed conflict is an ever-present theme in his collages and paintings. In fact, his 1970 fresco Funeral of the Anarchist Pinelli caused an uproar and was banned from exhibition. He worked with Umberto Eco, Marcel Duchamp and Yves Klein before his death in 2003.